


When All Other Lights Go Out

by Melethril



Series: When All Other Lights Go Out [1]
Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Angst, Ella is a treasure and deserves all the love, Ella needs a hug, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Lucifer also needs a hug, Lucifer for once accepts the hug, Set in a Fictional Season Two where all the major players find out about Lucifer being... Lucifer, devil reveal, or needs to hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2020-01-07 13:31:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18411656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melethril/pseuds/Melethril
Summary: Lucifer notices that Ella is a bit subdued and he wants to find out why.





	When All Other Lights Go Out

**Author's Note:**

> I blame this on my friend and current roommate, though I do thank her for introducing me to the Lucifer TV Show. I’m still going through it all, but of course, I had to write something because... My muse is cackling madly and has decided to ignore all my WIPs.

Miss Lopez was not herself. You did not have to be an eons-old fallen archangel to notice that (or was it in spite of it?).

Anyway, Lucifer had seen and now he could not unsee.

Miss Lopez was not wearing her cross.

Together with her trusted necklace that she fingered whenever she was feeling a tad bit unsure, whenever she felt the need to comfort herself (and sadly, she had chosen a profession that forced her to do just that on a regular basis), her terrifyingly vivacious self had disappeared too.

Oh, she still smiled, but her eyes were sad and her hugs were subdued.

At first, Lucifer assumed it had to do with him – it had to be, he had this uncanny ability to hurt those closest to him – but he quickly observed that this odd behaviour extended to all and he would not stand for it. Miss Lopez was annoyingly affectionate, just like the detective’s spawn, and she should be allowed to act like herself, following her desires at will (which for some reason included hugging the living daylights out of people without proper warning in advance). Resolutely, he nodded to himself and entered her laboratory without knocking.

“Miss Lopez…”

Only supernatural reflexes saved the glass beaker from destruction.

“Apologies, Miss Lopez…” he began, but was interrupted by the forensic scientist’s warning finger.

“Dude, a warning next time! Knock or walk loudly or breathe, just something!” She put her right hand on her chest to calm her beating heart. Her expression changed when fingers grabbed empty air instead of her pendant.

“Do you have a moment?” he asked.

“Sure,” said the young lady, perking up a bit, but the sadness was still present. “Hit me.”

“You’re not wearing your cross.”

A pained sigh escaped her, “Wow, man…or devil, you’re not pulling your punches.”

Feeling oddly wrong-footed, Lucifer took a cautious step forward. “I don’t understand.”

He had gone to church for her, as a worshipper, for the first time in… he had never stepped into church as a worshipper for he had become Lord of Hell before humans built their first church.

Miss Lopez put her hands together, moving her fingers restlessly. “Okay,” she exhaled. “Okay. Well, have you ever found out something about a person you really liked? Something that gives you pause and makes you wonder whether they’re really as good as you thought they were?”

That hit far too close to home and Lucifer took a step back, unable to fully conceal his hurt. He had thought she was fine with him being the devil. She had been very supportive and had come around faster than any of the others. He was very grateful for her friendship and it was unexpectedly painful to realise that this was apparently only temporary.

“I beg your pardon, I do not wish to impose my presence on you,” was all he managed before he turned around. A small but strong hand grabbed his elbow just as he was about to leave.

Seeing the tears in her eyes effectively held him in place.

“What is going on?” he breathed, confused and detesting the feeling. He had this overwhelming urge to protect her, hug her. He had not felt like this since before the Fall, when one of his many sisters had run to him because they were distressed.

“It’s not you,” whispered the forensic scientist urgently, pressing her lips together in an obvious attempt not to cry. “But because you think it’s you makes me so, so mad.”

“With whom?” Lost, he searched her gaze, wishing that he could draw out whatever bothered her as effortlessly as he could draw out other people’s desires.

“God!” she shouted, tears falling freely. “The Big Man upstairs! You don’t get it. I’m a huge, huge fangirl of his, okay? I think he’s the best one there is…” a sob. “Well, or I used to think so.”

Reeling back upon hearing his father’s name spoken so loudly and so suddenly, he managed to regain his composure and took a tentative step closer to her.

He had accepted her love for his father a long time ago. If the detective often made him think of the stars that were so far out reach yet beautiful and bright, Ella always reminded him of the Silver City before the Fall, long before everything went to Hell (literally). He could not help it. She was just so genuinely good, capable of bringing light into the darkest of places (including his own soul) without ever making him feel inadequate in her presence.

A sister.

And just like his sisters, it was obvious that she would love Father. They had forgiven Him for casting out Lucifer, for letting him Fall and burn in the Hellfires. Of course, they would. As much as he loved his sisters and many of them had loved him in return, their love for Father would always take precedence. Not a single one of them ever tried to convince Him; not a single one of them ever visited Lucifer.

Just like his brothers.

So, he was confused.

“Miss Lopez, why are you angry with Dad?”

“Why?” she asked, her voice slightly hysterical. “Why do you think?! He cast you out and you were trapped in Hell for an eternity. And you fulfilled your duties, but he still never ever forgave you or talked to you, and he still doesn’t. I’ve seen your face and your scars, Lucifer, and that is entirely on Him. I cannot forgive someone who abuses their children the way he did. The whole ‘he would never ask for more than you could bear’ is a load of BS!”

Stunned, Lucifer looked into resolute, dark, tear-filled eyes.

So strong.

So free.

He wondered if he would ever stop envying humans for that.

A gleam out of the corner of his eyes made him turn his head.

There it was. The pendant in question sat on her desk, partially hidden away but still within reach. Gingerly, he stepped around his distraught friend and approached the desk. He took the cross with care – not because he particularly cared for Him, but because of how much it meant to her – and turned to face her.

Delicately, he opened the necklace and wordlessly begetted her to take that one step that kept her out his reach. Eyes wide and full of sorrow (for him, surely, but also because of what she had lost), she did as asked.

“ _’I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live._ ’ Psalm 116:1-2, I believe. Correct? I swear humans did more remakes on the thing than King Kong movies.”

How he wished in this moment that he could lie to her.

“The thing is, he hasn’t heard me. He ignored my cries. I don’t think he ever truly listened and right before I came to Earth, I believed that I would never call on him ever again, but alas, you humans are so fragile and I find myself praying for another day, another year, another decade with you. And so far, he’s held up his end of the deal.”

Trembling slightly, he thought back to that desperate moment when he bled out praying for the life of not one but two humans he had come to care for, and right now, he stood in front of yet another. It was scary, watching his heart scattered across the city residing in mortal shells that he would never see again once their souls were welcomed to the Silver City. And for the first time in many thousand years, he understood why his father was so protective of what he once so derisively called Dad’s little side project. They were so easily harmed, and the angels were the older siblings most of whom may not truly wish to hurt the babies, but they were unaccostumed to deal with something so infinitely fragile.

He put the necklace around her neck and closed it with practiced ease, though this was the first time that the gesture was entirely platonic. “Feel free to cuss at him all you want. I encourage it, actually. Make sure you record that, it’ll be my new ringtone” he grinned, wiggling his eyebrows, which made her laugh. “But don’t let this take away who you are, Ella Lopez. Don’t be afraid to shout your frustration at the sky; he will forgive you. But don’t be angry on my behalf.”

“How can I not be? Given what he did to you… That’s one raw deal, dude!”

“Devil not ‘dude’ if you please,” he corrected. “Don’t get me wrong, if I could eradicate the last couple of… thousands of years, I would, but if I hadn’t Fallen, I wouldn’t have wished to escape to Earth and if I hadn’t done that, I’d have never met you or the detective or Dr. Linda or the Spawn or, Heaven forbid, Daniel. I’d have never understood His love for you. I am the only soul that can claim that they were in Heaven and Hell and crawled every step in between. Looking fabulous doing so, too,” he grinned. She groaned with both a laugh and a sob.

“Don’t fret. Don’t lose your love for what has so obviously shaped you. That’s all still there. You just don’t like it when big brother and daddy are fighting, _hermanita_. And that’s okay.”

And there it was, that overly affectionate attack with her remarkably strong arms he had not known he missed.

Today, he wrapped his arms around her, too.

And if he kissed the top of her head the way he used to do with his sisters, well, who could blame him?

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from Lord of the Rings.


End file.
